Question New ITX Rig (Work from home/gaming)

[C2bcool]

Hey Folks,

I am finally moving on from my Old/1st PC Build from 2012 (for those that said no one would need an i7 w/8 threads or 16gb of ram that has not aged well). My wife and I are both working from home and her company has given her $1000 toward a PC of her choice and I will be kicking in any extra. GPU will be upgraded down the road when needed (mainly play D3 & POE).

1. Home Office/Work from home, Gaming, Photoshop, light video editing
2. $1500 or less
3. USA - Microcenter (10 min away), Amazon, Newegg, , BestBuy
4-5. N/A
6. Monitor, RX580
7. PBO
8. 1080P (2560 x 1080 @ 144htz)
9. Now/ASAP (Covid Delays/shipping things are taking long or out of stock)
10. No Software Needed

Here is what I am thinking (BOLD has been purchased, but well w/in the Return window):

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X ($270 @ MC)
CPU Cooler: Scythe Fuma 2 ($60 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus ROG Strix X570-I ($260 @ Amazon) - ETA 5/17
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 C16 ($145 @ Newegg)
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1TB NVME ($200 @ Amazon)
Storage: Intel 660P 2TB NVME ($220 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT H210 Mini ITX ($80 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Seasonic Focus GX-850 ($140 @ MC)
Case Fans: Artic P12 PWM PST ($13 @ Amazon x 2 = $26)
Case Fans: Artic P14 PWM PST ($11.50 @ Amazon x 2 = $23)
Other: Silverstone PWM Fan Hub/Splitter ($15 @ Amazon)
Total: $1,438

Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[JustMe21]

For a lower price SSD, I prefer to go with the ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro. It has better write speeds and also has a 5 year warranty. It has a better MTBF as well.

 

[C2bcool]

Hey thanks for the suggestion. I considered it. But, found a deal for a 2TB 660p for $220 at B&H. Just updated my parts list. Not a world beater deal (IIRC seeing it for $189 around BF/the holidays), but with Covid-19 and all I grabbed it.

 

[C2bcool]

Figured I should update the thread with a conclusion.

I spent last night building the PC and some time with cable management. Everything went smoothly and the PC is dead silent and cool (seems to be boosting up to 4.3+ pretty regularly). I still need to do some stress testing. I think the only issue (minor one at that) was the mobo screw in the back rear standoff was just inaccessible once the mobo was in with the Fuma 2 already installed. I guess I could of uninstalled the Fuma 2 and installed the mobo, but with my big hands in a tiny case, I decided 3/4 screws was good enough (with the right screw driver I think I maybe I can access it, but not with what I have on hand).

I ended up using Be Quiet SW3 fans (as it was requested by my wife to build for silence and small). The P12/14s seem to have some good reviews, but I didn't want to take the chance. Ended up using 2 x 140 as intake in the front and 1 x 120 in the top as exhaust (no room for rear fan exhaust). I also did a last minute totally unnecessary bling purchase of some all black Cable Mod Pro cables which are really nice by the way.

Couple install notes for anyone who comes across this thread in the future (mostly about the Asus X570i mobo).

1) The HD audio header on the mobo is hidden (see manual), but is located under the M.2 heat sink and the rear sink/rear IO cover. Remove both. The Asus kit comes with a little extension cable that you must use to hook to your case's HD audio cable. Cable management to hide this little guy took some thinking...Use the case's HD Audio cable to gently pull/coax the cable behind your CPU cooler and between the rear IO and you can hide it completely.

2) Many complaints online regarding the screws holding down the M.2 Cover (rear IO cover too) on the mobo being very difficult and way over tightened leading to stripping a screw. I suspect they were using a #2 Phillips driver. I started with a #2 and quickly realized that was not going to work and used a little screwdriver from an eye glasses kit which handled the screws with ease. (I bet a Phillips #1 may have worked too)

3) DRAM Timings. Upon 1st boot my ram defaulted to 2133. I was able to get it to run at 3600 and FLK 1800, but couldn't adjust the other loose timings other then putting it to CL16. I then figured I needed to read up some DRAM timings and went down a rabbit hole of Ryzen DRAM calculator, Gamers Nexus videos, etc. Then after reading all that I felt it was time to play around. Went back into bios and noticed a D.O.C.P. (basically XMP) setting selected it and there was a profile for my ram 3600-16-19-19-39 and used it. Ram was now running at spec with no playing around. I likely will go back in at some point and play with the DRAM calculator and tighten the various other timings a bit more (profiles can only have so many settings and there is way more to adjust). But, for now it is good.